Florida citrus at risk


It’s not been a good year for Florida’s citrus industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that, for the second year running, the orange crop is expected to be almost 10 percent lower than the previous year.

The culprit is citrus greening, a disease that has devastated Florida’s oranges and grapefruits, and has now begun to spread in Texas and California.
Back in the 1950s and ’60s, the Florida Citrus Tower was one of the Orlando area’s most important tourist attractions.

“You could go up and see thousands and thousands acres of trees,” says citrus grower Benny McLean. “And you could buy fresh-squeezed orange juice, or you could buy a bag of navels. So it was a big deal back then.”


One response to “Florida citrus at risk”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *